Imagine Hope

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“When we talk about God, we’re talking about that sense you have—however stifled, faint, or repressed it is—that hope is real, that things are headed somewhere, and that that somewhere is good.”  –Rob Bell

Have you ever thought about hope?  Have you ever thought of where it leads?  How do we get hope?  What should we hope for?

My hope is for the Kingdom of God.  Even though this hope is a reality, I still find myself hoping.  This hope starts small and sometimes I don’t think it is actually there.  But aren’t we supposed to hope?  Isn’t that our call?  Wait, hasn’t Jesus already brought our hope?  Maybe... but shouldn’t we hope for others to find the Kingdom of God?  Maybe they already have... maybe they hope too...

I think they do... When I look around I see a lot of hope in the world.  However, much of this hope doesn’t come from the church, it comes from the world.  Recently my father and I watched the documentary Imagine.  Imagine is compiled home videos from John Lennon and his life after the Beatles and, being huge Beatles fans, my father and I always find hours of enjoyment learning more about one of “fab” four.  Early in the documentary the song sharing its title was played.  In this song, John sings these words:

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Many who hear this song are instantly turned off by the first verse, “Imagine there’s no heaven... no hell below us...” Their anger only builds going into the second verse, “...and no religion too...” However, notice how John ends the song, “a brotherhood of man” “...sharing all the world...”  “and the world will live as one.”  How can we say that John did not hope for the coming of the Kingdom of God?  Well... he may not have known it by that name, but John did hope for something huge...

What happened at the resurrection?  Have you ever wondered this?  For years I never stopped to think about what Christ’s resurrection meant for the world.  It always came to heaven and hell for me.  However, what Jesus truly did was conquer death, ushering in the Kingdom of God.  We do not need to hope for it because it has already come.

The Kingdom of God is how Rob described God above.  A place where we can hope that things are going somewhere...and they are.  John sensed it.  In some ways I believe John wanted to be a Christian.  Many times he talked about Gandhi and the peace he brought.  However, Christ brought true peace first; even Gandhi accepted this.  Instead of worrying about heaven, hell, or religion, let us look towards the cross and resurrection.  Here we find hope for all...